"I do," Lucivar replied. "I'm still not sure whether or not that's a good thing."

Daemon snorted. "Well, I suppose we'll find out," he said quietly, keeping one eye on Belle as they walked.

An hour or so later, Belle paused when she heard rustling in the trees before them, like multiple people moving. Dejaal growled quietly and pressed against her legs, almost making her stumble backwards into Daemon.

Another trainer emerged from the trees, a blonde girl with blue eyes, wearing short shorts, boots, and a tank top with an overshirt hanging over her frame. She had a Legolas following her, along with two Dark-Hunters, Wulf and Talon. Her eyes instantly zeroed in on Daemon and Lucivar, and she smirked.

Lucivar subtly moved closer to Andy. He didn't like the look of this other trainer, and none of Andy's group were out at the moment. To he honest, Andy didn't mind. Something about the new trainer set her on edge a little.

"Who is that?" the trainer asked, her eyes on Daemon.

"None of your business." Belle answered before Daemon could, placing herself firmly in front of him.

"I'll trade you for him."

"I think you should move on." Belle's voice was frigid.

"I want him."

"How about no." Belle grimaced as Daemon tried to step around her, and she continued to get in his way. "Territory's back that way, get your own, good luck not getting killed."

The trainer's eyes narrowed and she moved forward. Before Daemon could react, Belle pushed the trainer back several steps until her back collided with a tree.

"Listen to me very carefully, before I am only going to tell you this once," Belle said quietly. "He's mine, you're not going to get him, and you are certainly not going to get everything you want. Grow up. Come after any of mine again and I won't be so kind next time." She released the trainer and looked at Andy. "Come on. Let's go."

Daemon blinked, rather impressed.

Andy was impressed, too, but quite as much as Daemon. She figured Belle would react that way. She followed Belle past the trainer, but she still got the feeling that the trainer was watching them leave.

"Somehow, I get the feeling she may actually try to follow us," she murmured to her friend. "Though I'm not entirely sure."

Belle smiled grimly. "I'd love to see her try," she said, her voice silky. "She will be in for a nasty surprise if she tries."

Daemon's estimation of Belle went up another notch.

"Just don't catch me in the crossfire," Andy replied. "I really don't want to experience whatever you have in mind."

"Oh don't worry, you won't be involved. I won't do anything to them." Belle grinned briefly. "Yet."

Andy rolled her eyes.

"Whatever it is, don't tell me about it," she said. "I want to be able to deny knowing you when it happens."

Belle laughed at that, shaking her head. "Come on, let's head over to the Circle of Magic territory."

"Right," Andy replied as they kept walking. "I do want to see if I can find a Briar or a Tris."

"You can have fun with that. Unless there's animals involved. Then all bets are off." Belle grinned.

"The Tris may have a big dog or a living glass dragon," Andy commented. "Little Bear and Chime. Good enough?"

"Sure," Belle said, chuckling. "Thomas mentioned he wanted to swing back by his area, so we can stop there on our loop back to Ephemera."

"He mentioned something like that to me, too," Andy replied. She shrugged. "Whatever, I don't mind. It'll be neat to see a new territory."

"You haven't been over to Dresden territory?" Belle blinked. "Huh. Well, if you see someone you want over there, feel free. I bet Thomas wouldn't mind the company."

"Contrary to popular belief," Andy replied, grinning, "I have not, in fact, been everywhere. Just most of it." She shrugged. "If I see someone I like, I might. Otherwise, no big deal."

"Yeah, I figured. But we are definitely stopping in Pern somewhere along the way. I don't know which pair I want yet, but I am going to get a pair so I can have a dragon. Because dragons are awesome." Belle grinned.

"Dragons are badass," Andy agreed. She grinned. "We'll have more dragons between us than any other group, I bet."

"Oh that would be fun," Belle said with a chuckle. "Very fun indeed."

"That it will," Andy replied. "We'll have to see how well Li Li gets along with other types of dragons."

"Yeah. I know the Pern dragons only communicate with their rider and other dragons, so it'll be interesting to see if they can communicate with Temmy and Li Li." Belle shook her head a little. "Ah well. We'll find out, I expect."

"If anyone can figure out how to communicate with them, it's Temmy," Andy replied. "He's good at that. Still, three dragons in the same travelling group is a lot."

"Possibly four," Lucivar commented. Andy paused and looked at him.

"Say that again?"

"You did leave them alone while we stayed in town," Lucivar pointed out.

Belle snickered and shook her head. "Well, this will be very interesting."

"Baby dragons? Yes. Very." Daemon's voice was dry.

"Well. This should be...educational," Andy said. "I'll have to have a chat with my dragons tonight and figure out what the hell is going on."